Brooks Reed had played defensive end before while roaming the field back in college at Arizona.
So, when the Falcons approached him about moving from strongside linebacker to defensive end over the offseason, the concept was not that bizarre.
Reed, who’s hoping to rebound from an injury-marred first season with the Falcons, embraced the move and appeared at home in the exhibition opener against Washington.
“It’s a position that suits my style and I enjoy it,” Reed said “It’s physical. I get to get to pass rush a lot more compared to my other position I played last year, so it’s a good thing.”
Reed was the team’s major offseason pickup in 2015. He signed a five-year, $22.5 million deal, but was slowed by a groin injury that required surgery. He played in 13 games and made five starts.
From the new position, Reed is hoping to have more of an impact.
“Definitely, I want to be a bigger contributor and affecting the quarterback and protecting the line of scrimmage,” Reed said. “Just being there for my teammates and contributing toward winning football games.”
The Falcons used Reed mostly in the base defense against Washington. He used his hands well to get free against the Redskins. He played 14 snaps and had one tackle.
“We are encouraged with where he’s at,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said on Monday. “The move to (defensive) end has been good for him.”
Defensive line coach Bryan Cox has overseen Reed’s transition to defensive end.
“It’s not entirely new to him,” Cox said. “He did a wonderful job over the offseason transforming his body. Got himself in great shape and looks a lot better. He’s working really hard.”
In the Falcons base defense, Reed is usually next to Vic Beasley, who’s being converted to Reed’s old strongside linebacker spot.
“We are just looking for the 25 to 30 plays of game where he can knock tight ends back, head butt and do the things that he’s good at,” Cox said.
Reed feels much healthier.
“It’s awesome man,” Reed said. “Not having to think about getting through an injury. Just feeling good. Body is feeling good. My mind is feeling good.”
Reed appears to be much lighter than the 254 pounds he’s listed at. He appears much leaner and quicker.
“You know, I’m just trying to rub off the rust with these (exhibition) season games,” Reed said. “I’m just trying to show how much work that I put in this offseason.”
The rest of the defensive linemen have embraced Reed.
“We have a lot of vets in our (defensive) line line room,” Reed said. “Tyson (Jackson), (Jonathan) Babineaux, (Dwight) Freeney coming in has been great. All of those guys, we know each other and we know each other’s styles. We compliment each other.
“We’re pretty stacked depth wise. We have a lot of guys who can do their job pretty exceptionally.”
Before joining the Falcons, Reed play 1,318 run snaps for the Houston Texans and graded out well by profootballfocus.com. He played 1,509 pass rush snaps and had 135 pressures. As a linebacker, he dropped into coverage 409 times.
Reed believes the Falcons can ramp up their pass rush, which registered 19 sacks and was last in the league last season.
“Yeah, that’s the goal,” Reed said. “That’s a big emphasis for this year, is affecting the quarterback more and we are definitely working hard toward that.”
Cox admits that the competition along the defensive line is fierce.
“That’s what we hope to get,” Cox said. “That means we are better if we have a lot of competition. Then, secondly, we are just trying to find out how the pieces fit.”
The Falcons are hopeful the Reed’s ready to turn in a big season.
“He’s in terrific shape,” Quinn said. “I think the speed and quickness is what I was hoping to see and it has been there. He’s worked hard…I’d say his speed and quickness is the biggest difference I see from him off the edge in 2016 compared to 2015.”
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